


Girls From Many Nations

by nostalgia



Category: Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-10
Updated: 2014-07-10
Packaged: 2018-02-08 05:29:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1928379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nostalgia/pseuds/nostalgia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I think you're almost certainly very pretty, Romana."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Girls From Many Nations

"Well?"

He wasn't entirely sure how to respond. A compliment of some sort was probably required, but he was a bit out of practice with this sort of thing. "I think you're almost certainly very pretty, Romana."

"Really?"

The Doctor tried not to be incredibly relieved at his non-failure on that one. "Yes. There's a charming symmetry to your face, and you have mathematically-interesting proportions." He was very pleased not to have added the bit about how interesting it might be to measure her, because he wasn't even entirely sure where that had come from and it might imply certain things that he didn't entirely mean to imply.

"I do like my new look. It's very comfortable."

"There was nothing wrong with the old one."

"I know that, but sometimes a change does one good. Especially if one isn't racing through ones lives with worrying abandon."

"Hmph. Well. No need to go on about that, is there?"

"I wasn't criticising." Romana knew how to head off a sulk when she saw one coming, which he had to admit was another thing that was rather appealing about her.

Still, a bit of a sulk wouldn't be unwarranted. "The first one lasted a perfectly reasonable time. And the second one wasn't my fault. Though I admit that I could have been a bit more careful last time. Possibly."

"I'm not too sure about my nose," she said, rubbing in a way that could be considered adorable if one was inclined to think that Romana was adorable. Which he wasn't, obviously.

"It's a lovely nose. Isn't it a lovely nose, K-9?"

"Insufficient data," squeaked the tin dog.

"What would a dog know about noses anyway?" The Doctor sighed, because this was all getting a bit trying. "You know, Romana, sometimes you can be awfully shallow."

"I'm not shallow!" she said and... well, it wasn't quite a pout but it very nearly was.

"Of course not,” he said “but sometimes you are. None of us is perfect, after all. I have to admit that on rare occasions I myself might be ever-so-slightly arrogant."

"Really?"

"Sometimes, yes." He paused. "Aren't you going to disagree with me?"

"I'm sure it just makes you more appealing somehow."

"Like your nose."

"If you say so."

"The nose does not maketh the woman, Romana. Besides, I'm sure if someone found you attractive it would be for some other reason, like perhaps your wit or your intelligence or your _joi de vivre_. I personally barely even notice your nose and I'm not even in love with you."

The Doctor waited for the horrible awkward silence that tends to happen when one person says something they didn't mean to say and the other person doesn't like the thing that's accidentally been said.

Oddly enough, the awkward silence didn't happen. "Thank-you," she said. She had a very pretty smile, now that he came to think about it.

The TARDIS console was suddenly very interesting. And if he looked at it very carefully he might not ask the thing he was now quite keen to ask. "Would it upset you if I was?"

Oops.

Romana considered this for a few moments. The Doctor was quite surprised by how long those moments were. Were moments getting longer? Was something broken? Why was Romana so irritating sometimes? Why was he even that worried, because there were plenty of people in the universe and any number of them were far more attractive than Romana and why hadn't he just said something a lot earlier before awkwardness had become a distinct possibility?

"I don't think so, no," she said, eventually. "I might even rather like the idea."

The Doctor thought about this. "I don't suppose you have some young man or woman waiting for you back home that you've simply neglected to mention to me?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason."

It wasn't awkward at all. It was quite pleasant, actually. And Romana really was very pretty.


End file.
